Israeli soldiers abducted the Palestinian deputy prime minister early Saturday, the army said, the highest-ranking Hamas official to be captured by Israel in a six-week-old crackdown against the ruling Hamas party.

According to press reports, occupation troops stormed into the home of Nasser Shaer around 4:30 a.m. and took him away, the deputy prime minister's wife, Huda, said. She added her husband had been in hiding since Israel started its crackdown in late June after Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip infiltrated southern Israel and captured a soldier. She said he had rarely been home during that period.

The army confirmed Shaer was arrested in Ramallah overnight for his involvement and activity in Hamas.

With Shaer's abduction, four members of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Cabinet and some 30 Hamas lawmakers are in Israeli hands. Four other ministers have been detained and released.